Truckstop Tomahawk - Tiki Nation (LP)

Truckstop Tomahawk – Tiki Nation (LP)

Edition: Lava Red

Release Date: May 15, 2026 (PRE-ORDER)

For Fans Of: Kava Kon, Magic Sands, The Sorcerers, Les Baxter, contemporary exotica revival, and cinematic instrumental journeys rooted in rhythm and atmosphere.

1. Shipwreck Island – 3:24
2. The Magic Cowboys of Rapa Nui – 4:17
3. Legend of Zufu’s Chicken – 5:42
4. Outdoor Cats – 3:06
5. Return to Nan Madol – 3:59
6. The Pale Faced Lightening – 3:48
7. Galaxy Drifting (Interlude) – 2:05
8. Captain Cook’s Swing – 4:08
9. Burmese Ladder – 4:21
10. Supermarket Werewolves – 2:32

Truckstop Tomahawk—the solo project of Robert “Bob” Kress, one-half of Kava Kon—charts new waters with Tiki Nation, a cinematic debut that expands modern exotica into wide-open sky.

This is an ode to Hawai‘i’s Big Island—the soft trade winds of Pacific afternoons, the slow hum of tires along saddle roads, road trips to hidden waterfalls, and evenings where lava glows just beyond the tree line. But it doesn’t stay anchored. The record drifts into mysterious places beyond the Pacific Islands, reminding us that Tiki can be found everywhere. It invites us to hear the spirit of Tiki and exotica across the world.

From the opening drift of “Shipwreck Island” to the twilight pulse of “Supermarket Werewolves,” the album moves through these places, echoing every memory of travel since childhood—magical tropical landscapes, sudden downpours, and quiet gas station stops at dusk.

Each track marks a waypoint:

• The mythic horizon of “The Magic Cowboys of Rap Nui”
• The submerged mystery of “Return to Nan Madol”
• The West African swing of “Captain Cook’s Swing”
• The dream-state drift of “Galaxy Drifting (Interlude)”

Kress blends primal rhythm, native flute textures, and subtle electronic distortion into something both grounded and atmospheric. This is music for explorers, surfers, and day-trippers—for anyone who knows paradise isn’t a postcard. It’s motion—this is Tiki Nation.

The album’s cover art is an original oil painting by Hawai‘i Island-based artist Catherine Robbins, created in her rainforest studio below Kīlauea’s erupting summit. Her elemental palette—lava reds, jungle greens, Pacific blues—captures the spirit of the record: grounded in earth, carried by wind.

Graphic design by Michael Paul Taylor.
Label art by Heather Watts.

Tiki Nation is movement.
It’s salt air.
It’s lava glow.

Begin your audio expedition.

THE RITUAL OF SOUND
2026 MELLO EXOTICA